April 8th

I went out and ran the DRZ, and it was running incredibly fast.  I can't really see why, and I don't want to take the bodywork off, so I'll leave it for the moment.

April 7th

I went to the airport to clean the plane a little before heading out to meet Chris and Randy at Auburn for lunch.  We had intended to fly to Oroville, but Chris had a carb problem, so we went back to Lincoln and (hopefully) sorted that out instead.

When I got home, I put the carb on the DRZ back together.  Now I just need to figure out a test to see if it's (finally) fixed - it takes a while to drain the carb into the engine usually.

April 6th

I started the day at the airfield cooking breakfast for 20 or so of my closest friends.  After that I went and did circuits for just under an hour, then showed up at the end of the board meeting just in time to get given a few things to do.  Then I went and helped Randy change the oil in his gyroplane, and went home.

I'm on call, so I did some work and played some Warcraft.

I also managed to take the carb apart on the DRZ (from the bottom while on the bike, so it wasn't as bad as taking it off) and replaced the float valve O ring).  I've found that the new fuel tap leaks in the "on" position (it's vacuum operated), but not the "reserve" position.  Joy.

In the evening we watched "Mortal Engines".

April 1st

A new month, so here are the power stats:

Power billed

Power generated

We turned off the hot tub at the end of the month, but started charging the electric car, so it's going to be interesting to see what that does to the bill.  I'm hoping that next year we can look at adding more solar panels, as Roseville won't give you a permit for more power than you use.

March 31st

We took the Bolt over to the airport and flew to Auburn to meet Chris for breakfast, via Folsom Lake and the Foresthill bridge.  Our small gathering got bigger and bigger, and at one point there were 9 of us at the table :o)

On the way back, we flew over the canyon, but not down into it, and toddled back to Lincoln.  I've now done 100 hours in gyroplanes, so hopefully that'll help with the insurance bill when that comes due.

After pottering about at the airport for a while, we went home.  I'm getting the hang of the regenerative braking in the car - it stops pretty quickly from freeway speeds, so you have to keep a little throttle on or you'll stop before your exit :o)

March 30th

I'd ordered a replacement window regulator for the van - not an aftermarket part, just a used VW one.  I sprayed it full of degreaser, cleaned everything out and filled it with lithium grease before putting it all back together.  It didn't take long to strip the aftermarket one out of the van, and looking at them, the VW part is curved where the aftermarket one is straight - I'm wondering if this is why it binds.  Anyway, I got it all back together, wound the window down, then heard a fuse pop winding it back up.  After a lot of digging, I found the fuse on the input to the window switches, and that I'd trapped one of the wires to the motor behind the window - going down that wire was obviously ground, so going up... Anyway, I got everything all back together, it's just a 1 hour job took me closer to 3 hours.  Oh well.  We took the Bolt out to get lunch, then I went to the airport and took the gyro out for some circuits.  The pattern wasn't too busy, and I managed to fly in just a jacket, rather than my flight suit for the first time this year :o)  7 landings later, and after chatting with John for a bit, I headed home.

March 25th

Vic surprised Tilly and me getting home - we're used to hearing her drive up :o)